Luna: Raising an Equestrian Princess
by xxxRavensClawxxx
Summary: When a lonely man lives an automated life, is that even living anymore? Then one day, he finds that answers to his entire life trapped underneath a dark-blue t-shirt... follow him through 20 years of his life as he learns what a little color can do to a black and white picture.


**Aright, so I read My Little Dashie (You can't be a brony without reading it!), and I loved the whole idea of it, and then I was searching MLP Pics and I found this ADORABLE picture of a young Princess Luna, saying "I want to be an astronaut!" Falling in love with Luna, I wrote this, which is not stealing My Little Dashie, it is merely using it's idea. Plus, the ending is better. I give all credit of the original idea to the author of My Little Dashie. Enjoy!**

**One quick thing: In My Little Dashie, Rainbow Dash is flying by Age 9 as well. However, she is in the main character's care for a shorter amount of time, about two years. That's because Luna comes to me at about 3 years old, a small filly. Also, she does things at older ages because she is an alicorn. She was still young after 1000 years on the moon.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own My Little Pony, meaning I, unfortunately, don't own Princess Luna. Hasbro owns the whole franchise.**

Life is a puzzle. And the biggest problem with puzzles is that pieces don't always work. They get snapped, or go missing. I learned this firsthand when my brother Stephen died in combat over in Afghanistan. That was when my puzzle of life lost one of it's most important pieces.

Now I live my life as I never intended to. I work at a grocery store, scanning food and shelving items. How did I stoop to this? What caused me for fall so far from my dreams and hopes?

When I was little, I had big dreams. Dreams of being a writer, a movie maker, a sound designer. I was full of energy, and thought of the sky as my limit. Now I was doing nothing but putting some old person's prunes in a bag.

I needed some color in this dull life of black and white. I tried to get that color with watching My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but my computer screen contained it all, making me hate the thought of it, just like anything else I can't obtain.

Each time I see those bright smiles, those happy ponies, I think: Why can't our world be like this? Apart from the ponies, of course, why can't we live like Equestria? Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth-Ponies all live in peace and harmony, so why can't blacks, whites, yellows, reds, and all other races get along?

I haven't the faintest idea.

And when I drift to sleep every night, I think long and hard about this, because I know I never can fulfill this wish on my own: All I want is a bit of happiness in my life. Of course, _wanting _is never good enough.

Just like I _wanted _to join the Army with Stephen. He wouldn't let me, and the Government wouldn't have, either. Life just wants to deny you of everything you desire in life, even if it's life itself. Especially that. So now I let this routine take over my life.

I wake up, go to work, go home, kill time, and go to sleep. I don't even feel like I'm living anymore. I'm just a machine, and life is my operator. So now I just hope this dying hope this dying hope every day of my life.

I hope for my operator to be thrown out of power.

One night, in early October, my birthday to be exact, I couldn't sleep. I went out onto the roof of the apartment complex in California that I lived in. I like the night time. The cold light of the stars soothes me. The dark blue that fills the air fills my spirit in a way that completely relaxes the mind.

This night, the air is warm for it being October, and the stars seem to be brighter than usual. The crescent moon hangs in the air, looking like a claw of some vast star-speckled animal.

Night time is where I like to be. The cool air, the tranquility of the pale moonlight. Maybe that's why Luna is my favorite of all the characters of My Little Pony. She carries the night with her wherever she goes. Sometimes I just want to have my own Luna, someone who I can sleep with at night that will keep me warm, someone to fill that hole from my brother's death. I made that my birthday wish.

But it's just a silly dream. Right?

It was a boring old Saturday, and I was just getting up. I felt like working on my beat-up truck, or maybe going to a movie. Walking over to my shirt drawer, I looked around for my favorite dark-blue shirt. Realizing it was in my closet, I opened it, getting buried in an avalanche of clothing.

Sighing, I decided to clean that all up later. I stooped over to pick up the shirt, then noticing something odd. Wisps of the shirt floated in the air. Then I traced the wisps to the source, and I stopped dead.

There, half-buried in a pile of laundry, was a struggling… filly… what? No, it can't be. But, rubbing my eyes, I found I was not mistaken. A filly alicorn with a small tiara and a flowing dark-blue mane struggled to free her head from my articles of clothing, and when her head popped out, I knew with all my mind that this was… Princess Luna.

She yawned and scratched her head, but then she noticed her surroundings. She looked at me, and dashed over to the corner, cowering in fright. I had no idea what to do, so I just walked towards her.

"It's okay," I said, crouching in front of her, "I'm not going to hurt you." She looked less fearful, but stayed in the corner… next to the radiator. It hissed loudly - my brother never was good at pipes - and scared her into my arms.

She squirmed fiercely, but I stroked her - which surprised me, because how can you stroke the sky? - and sat on my bed. Eventually, she stopped squirming, and I set her down on my sheets. I had no idea what to do, but I supposed that she must slightly understand me, so I tried conversation.

"What were you doing in my closet?" She stared at me with a confused look in her light-blue eyes, and I noticed that she was younger than I thought. If you think about baby Applejack in Season 3 Episode 8, and make her dark blue with a flowing starry mane, a unicorn horn, and wings, you have the filly in front of me.

"Are you lost?" I regretted those words as soon as she understood them. She looked sad, and also looked like she realized something.

"Tia?" She said in a lonely voice. I doubt she could say much more than that. Then I remembered that, as the fandom states, "Tia" was Luna's name for Princess Celestia when they were little. That was probably the first word she learned in her life before she was brought here.

How was she here, anyway? Was there an interdimensional rift that had brought her here? Maybe Doctor Whooves would come along to fix this all, even if the Wiki said his name was Time Turner and not any doctor. I sat there, pondering this all, when I remembered the cause of the thought in the first place.

Luna was chewing on my pillow, and I assumed she was hungry.

"Well, come along. I think I can settle that hunger." She seemed to understand that I had food for her, so she leaped off the bed and followed me to my kitchen.

I had no idea what fillies her age would eat, so I put out some applesauce in a little dish. She sniffed at it before shoving her face into the slushy substance. Well, rule number one of baby alicorns: They like applesauce.

Next was me giving a tour of my apartment. I had a penthouse at the top, a perk of having your brother as the landlord, but it was rundown. Luna was amazed by every small detail, and I assumed she thought of this as an alien house.

After the tour, she yawned again, and I realized she was tired. Plopping onto the couch, she settled next to the fireplace, which I had turned on before giving her her applesauce. I flipped through the channels on my Roku, subconsciously landing on My Little Pony on the Netflix channel. It was Episode 2 of Season 1 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

"I'm so sorry, big sister!" Luna cried out as she ran towards her older sister. The rest of the episode flew by, and then I chose the next episode. Season 2 Episode 4, Luna Eclipse. I chuckled quietly at each failed attempt Luna made to fit in with the other ponies in Ponyville. Then Luna yawned, and I quickly flicked to a different channel.

Luna slept for hours, probably exhausted from being brought here. I just played my Xbox 360, watching her with a careful eye. Finally, at about 3:00 PM, she woke up. She looked around until she found me, then ran to the couch, struggling to get up. I pulled her up, and she put her head on my lap. I stroked her starry mane, until she started lightly biting my hand.

Getting out another dish of applesauce, I wondered how long it would be until I needed to try yogurt. That got me thinking: How do you raise an alicorn? In one of the episodes, about Pinkie babysitting Mr. and Mrs. Cake's babies, Twilight and Rainbow Dash said that baby unicorns had magic bursts, and baby pegasi have trouble controlling their wings.

Alicorns, having a horn and wings, probably meaning the alicorn in front of me had both problems. Realizing the issue ahead, I sighed. _What am I getting myself into? _Luna finished her applesauce, and I removed the dish. Then she scampered off to amuse herself somehow. I let her be, though. She was only a filly. What could go wrong?

It's been three months since Luna came tumbling down with my laundry. During the first few nights, she would cry out "Tia" in a sad voice, but now she only said it every once in awhile. Her first bath was a big doozy. She had splashed and struggled, doing her best to avoid getting in the water. Of course, she loved it as soon as she was in the water, but I got a bruise on my arm from a wild kick.

She was starting to have magic bursts, and her wings slightly lifted her every once in awhile, but for the most part she contained herself very well. I think her eyes were developing more of the cute pupils instead of completely blue eyes. I couldn't wait for her to speak better…

What am I saying? She won't be here that long. Whatever brought her here will revert in a matter of months, or Celestia or the Doctor or some other dimension-traveling being will come and take her away from me soon enough. It made me sad to think about it, but that was okay. It needed to happen.

In the meantime, I've been going on the internet and printing off fan instruction guides for teaching baby unicorns magic, and teaching pegasi about flying. I knew I had to do this before she learned how to use the internet, or else I would have a lot of questions to answer.

I could only hope they would work.

Two, now almost three, years ago, I found a filly alicorn princess in my laundry. Now she can speak about as well as a six year old year old, which is near how old I calculate she is. I was tucking her into bed after reading to her, which I had gotten from my dad. Kissing her on the forehead, I pulled her tiara off her head and put it on the table next to her.

"I love you, daddy." She mumbled as she drifted off to sleep. I stopped dead at those words. It had been so long since she had come here that she considered me her dad! And the more I thought about it, I realized that I considered her my daughter. I smiled.

"I love you to, Luna."

I quietly shut the door behind me, and I had a grin the size of the interstate. She called my daddy! As I climbed into the cot in the living room, I thanked the force that had brought Luna into my life a thousand times. Then I settled in and fell asleep.

It was Luna's 9th birthday today! We did our best at baking a cake, but after multiple failures, we resolved to just getting one from the nearby bakery. After eating some cake, plus a daffodil sandwich I had made from scratch, I gave her my present. It was a dog costume.

"What's this?" She asked. She can talk much better than when she first came here, and can easily understand me.

"Well, we can't go practice flying with you looking like an alicorn, can we?" She beamed like I had just given her a million dollars.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! We're actually going outside to practice my flying?" I nodded, and she threw her arms around me. She grabbed a paper and pencil and began writing a name down to put in the pocket on the collar I bought to go with the costume.

Oh yeah, that's another thing. I taught her how to speak pretty well, but the next challenge was teaching her to write. She wrote with her mouth, though it came out really awkwardly. I knew she would do better once she knew magic better, and she could write like Twilight did, using levitation on a writing utensil.

Anyway, I decided to teach her how to fly before moving on to magic. I have a friend who owns a private animal reserve for orphaned animals, and he lent me a book on teaching winged animals to fly, not to mention my sheets I got from the internet so long ago.

Ten minutes later, "Fido" and I were walking to a large sandy lot about a block from my apartment complex. When I was little, and my brother was still alive, he and I would play broomball with the neighborhood kids here. Now nobody had played here for almost a decade.

I knew the sand would soften the fall - I knew she would fall a lot - for the first few tries. Turns out that she needed a lot more times than "a few." After about three dozen failed attempts, we were going to head home.

"Please, just one more try?" She pleaded. I looked at her, and her adorable light-blue eyes convinced me.

"Alright, but this is the last one." She nodded, and climbed to the starting point, on top of an old minivan. She squinted her eyes, grit her teeth, and leaped off, extending her wings… and plummeting to the earth.

Brushing herself off, she slowly put her costume back on, and we walked home in silence. I could tell she was disappointed, but I had no idea what to say to her. When we got home, she took her costume and put it in the closet. Then she walked out to the balcony, and I let her go.

I watched her carefully while simultaneously watching football. Then one time, I looked over to see her tail disappear over the railing.

"LUNA!" I cried out, stumbling over to the balcony. We were 20 stories up, she would be smashed to a pulp at the ground. A black shape suddenly swooped upwards in front of me. Looking, I saw a familiar dark blue alicorn.

"Yo-your flying!" I exclaimed. She smiled and did a loop-de-loop above me.

"I know! I love this feeling so much!" I smiled, then beckoned for her to come back inside. She flew in another circle before landing on the balcony. We walked inside, and I hugged her.

"I couldn't be prouder, Luna." I said solemnly, kissing her on her forehead. She smiled and hugged me harder.

It's been four months since Luna has flown. Once she nailed flying, I realized I now had an even harder task ahead of me: magic. Luna was an alicorn, meaning she had a horn which allowed magic. When she went back to her world, if she still hadn't regained her original memories, she would need to learn this magic for raising the moon.

This should be interesting.

"No! Watch where you aim your horn, that could seriously mess with me!" I exclaimed as another bolt of energy shot past me. So far, Luna knew no actual spells, but she could make potentially deadly bolts of magic. We were practicing in the lot we worked on flying in so as not to destroy any property people actually cared about.

"I'm sorry! I can't control it!" She called back, cowering in the corner as her horn shot more energy my way. Luna really had been trying to learn this magic, but, just like flying, I was next to no help due to my lack of being a unicorn or pegasus.

"It's okay, just aim for a wall when you think you're about to fire again." I comforted, which was all I really could do. I would just go on the internet and find out, some brony could have a new method or whatnot, but it would be _really _awkward if she found me on a My Little Pony website.

It's bad enough, actually, that she watches television already. Some of the stuff I have that's worth anything was my thankfully-limited cable TV, so she has about half of all channels at her viewing. I'd take it away, just to be safe, but she has grown to like Disney shows like Wizards of Waverly Place. Maybe that'll help teach her magic.

I digress. Today, we quit early, and went to the park for a few hours. Ever since she learned to fly, we found that Luna, like a pegasus, could stand on clouds. Now she can get on a cloud and propel herself with her wings all the way to a nearby park.

I loved this park. When our parents owned the apartment complex, Stephen and I would walk to the park together. He would play on the swings and slides with me, and we'd get ice cream afterwards. How I missed those days of care-free living and playing for hours on hours. Yet… even if my brother was still alive, I wouldn't replace these past few months for anything.

"Luna, we should head home now, sweetie."

"Aw, do we have too?" She whined, sounding just like a child when they had to leave a fun place. I nodded, and she flew up to a cloud. Then she grinned and looked at me from above.

"I'll race you home!" She laughed and took off, her star-speckled mane and tail streaming out from behind her. I chuckled and sprinted to keep up with her. At that time, I felt happy, like when I was a kid and I would come home from a day at school to find an afternoon snack waiting for me.

When we got home, I laughed.

"Beat you." I said jokingly.

"Nah-uh! I won fair and square!" She objected. I nodded with a twinkle in my eyes, and threw my arms around her in a surprise hug attack. She squealed and hugged me back, and I felt just like a parent, despite our total differences.

That night, I went onto my laptop after she was asleep. I felt like when I would secretly watch YouTube without my parents knowing, often setting my alarm for 3 o'clock in the morning. One night, Stephen caught me. Then he showed me some good channels he knew.

Anyway, I searched for "teaching magic to alicorns" on Google, and a variety of results came up. One site that I clicked on actually was split into alicorns and unicorns, much to my delight. Printing off the pages, I heard the clip-clop of small hooves, so I threw the laptop under the couch cushion.

"Dad?"

"Yes, Luna?" I called over.

"Thanks." She said. I smiled and nodded, and she went back upstairs. Once I heard her door shut, I sighed in a mix of joy and despair. _So this is what having a child feels like. I hope this rift never fixes._

It's been six years. If you told me that I was going to take care of a baby alicorn who was responsible for raising the moon in another world, I'd call an asylum and have them take you away. Now, I think I might be the crazy one. Yet, through all this time, I doubt I'd even notice any trucks coming to take me away.

Luna finally learned her first spell today! I was doing what I usually do, encouraging her while dodging stray magic, when one actually hit my side. She squeaked as I slumped to the ground.

"Dad! Are you okay?" She said worriedly. I nodded and tried to get up, but was hit by a wave of pain. I sat down again and slid out my phone.

"Now Luna, I am going to call an ambulance, and you need to fly home. Got it?" She nodded with tears in her eyes, not because of my injury, because that wasn't very bad, just really painful. She was crying because she did this to me.

I clicked the screen, and was about to hit "Call" after dialing 911, a red battery symbol flashed on my screen, and the phone went dead. I angrily shoved it back in my pocket.

"Stupid device." I muttered. Without thinking almost, Luna touched the wound with her horn.

"Luna, stop. It's not that bad…" She didn't reply, but her horn glowed a light blue, and my magic-induced cut was enveloped by a white light. Instantly, the whole thing disappeared in a flash of magic. I was speechless.

"Luna… you… just… did MAGIC!" I got up easily now, and I threw my big arms around her, picking her up. We laughed and shouted in joy, realizing that she probably just needed to mature.

Going home, which happened eventually because people started coming outside to find the source of all this yelling, I smiled. By the looks of things, nothing could possibly go wrong.

I got home from work today with a smile on my face.

"Luna! Come on down, I have a surprise for you!" She came streaking down the stairs. She seemed bigger, about as big as one of the Mane 6 for most of the show, even though she was 15, and they were much older.

"What is it, dad?" She asked excitedly.

"Well, I got a promotion today at work, and a raise came with that. A big raise. Sooooo… I got us a new house!" She squealed with delight and hugged me hard.

"Ohyesohyesohyesohyesohyesohy es! This'll be SO much fun!" She said in a flurry of speech. I smiled, and then brought her to the couch where I showed her pictures of the place.

"It comes with about 2 acres of land, so you can fly around and practice magic and such in peace. The house has four bedrooms, plus several smaller guest rooms. It's a good size for this price. And it's near the ocean!" I explained. I was happy with this purchase, especially about the rooms. Luna's been asking for her own room as she gets older, and I don't have the space here for one.

Now, of course I had problems with this. Everyone does with moving, but I had more that normal. I was giving up this penthouse, which would be fine, except for the fact that my brother gave it to me for free.

Of course I had plenty of other things to remember him by, but the house was the most significant memoir I had. Good old Stephen fixed it up as good as he could, up until the men in black came and said he was being called to Afghanistan. How I wish he hadn't signed up all those years ago.

Anyway, Luna was a great help in moving out. She now had much better magic skills, and could levitate large amounts of junk with a single thought, able to organize it into the boxes just as quickly. I did what I could, and we had everything done in a matter of days. She also, as I predicted, would write what was in each box by levitating a Sharpie marker.

Finally, we were done.

Luna and I stood in the doorway, gazing at the empty penthouse. Memories flooded my mind: Moving in, helping Stephen fix the pipes, long nights of staring at the sky from the balcony, and of course, finding Luna in my closet.

Luna had memories here as well. Her first words, her first bath, being found, flying, learning magic, etcetera. Of course, the house would be a blessing. One thing Stephen never fixed was my shower, so Luna and I still took baths. I could have called a plumber, but why interrupt what my brother started?

"It seems so… empty." I muttered. She nodded in agreement, then nudged my hand.

"Come on, dad. Let's go to our new home." I nodded, and with a last look at the house, I closed the door.

What annoys me the most is that the current landlord - technically, it would've been me, but I thought landlord was a bit to much responsibility - said I couldn't even stay there while I was moving out. Said it would be gone like a flame in the wind.

As it turns out, the whole building was torn down a week after we left and replaced with a parking lot. All those memories, gone in a pile of rubble.

But, as Luna later said, it was a good time. The apartments had been owned by my family for years. Once none of us owned it anymore, it had no purpose for being used anymore.

As I drove away, with Luna hiding in the backseat, I felt a few tears fall down my cheek at my leaving. But I brushed them away and put a set face on. It was time to start a new chapter in my life.

I was late from work one day, and when I came home, Luna didn't run down the stairs like usual. Weird.

"Luna! I'm home!" I heard a faint noise coming from our basement, where we stored our 48" Flat Screen TV, so I assumed she was watching something. Throwing my jacket on the coat-rack, I walked down the stairs, expecting her to meet me. She didn't.

"Luna, I got something for din-" I began as I reached the bottom of the stairs. Then I stopped dead as I saw what was playing on the screen.

"Are thou saying you… liketh us to scare you?" A familiar blue-maned, crowned alicorn princess said on the show. I knew we got more cable with the house, but I had no idea it included Hub. Then I saw the real Luna on the couch in front of the screen. She was shaking with sobs, and I moved over to the cushion next to her.

"How long?" She asked quietly.

"What?"

"HOW LONG?!" She screamed at me, tears of anger flowing from her eyes. Composing herself, but fiery rage still in her voice, she continued.

"How long have you known that I was a cartoon character?" She demanded. I stood speechless.

"Luna, I've known since I found you in my laundry…"

"So you _lie _to me?!" She yelled. She looked different, like she was changing. She seemed taller, and lightning crackled in her eyes. Her eyes… oh no.

Her eyes seemed to be whitening.

"Luna, keep under control…"

"NO!" She screamed louder. The transformation continued: Her eyes grew a glowing white, a helmet formed on her head, her wings became darker, and she grew much taller.

"You lied to me! You never told me where I came from, never said who I was! My whole life could have been different if you had just told me WHO I REALLY WAS!" Her voice grew more booming, and her horn grew nearly black. The transformation was complete.

Before me stood Nightmare Moon.

"Luna, stop!" I moved in to hug her, hoping to stop this, but she blew me back with a large, crackling, white-hot bolt of lightning. The pain was unbearable, and the pain of what I had done was even more-so.

With a shriek, she flew up the stairs, and I heard a window shatter. She was gone.

It took me a while before I actually got up. The pain was great, but I managed to get up the stairs. Examining the wound, I found it had caused a large patch of raw skin on my chest, and singed hairs all over my body.

Carefully, I washed out the wounds that had breached my skin, but I longed for Luna's healing spell. I thought of going after her to ask for help, but then I stopped myself. That wasn't Luna anymore.

After putting ice packs on the burns, and bandages on the cuts, I went upstairs and flopped on my bed. Now was not the time for wishing. Now was the time for the hardest task ever: The Waiting Game.

It's been four days since Luna transformed into Nightmare Moon and flew outside. There was no sign of her, not even on the internet. I grew more worried for her every minute, and then I resolved to do something today.

I went on a walk.

When I was younger, before we moved into the apartment complex my grandparents had owned at the time, we lived in a small town that took up about three acres of land. I would just walk around all the time, going to the store or the cemetery. Now walking seemed like the only thing to do.

Walking outside, I didn't even notice the downpour. I didn't even put on a coat, I just got up and went outside. Shirtless, actually. The rain soothed the burns and scrapes Nightmare Moon had given me, and the _Splish-Splash _and _Thump-Thunk _of the rain calmed my mind.

I have no idea of how long I walked, but I eventually came to a grove of trees on the edge of my property. Realizing that I was in the pouring droplets of water, and shirtless along with all that, I ran into the trees, taking refuge under an old oak.

Sighing, I realized I couldn't find my way home. Along with the rain, there was a fine mist everywhere, making it hard to tell which way I came from. I didn't know the property _that _well.

Sitting down, I ignored the rough bark on my wounded back. I banged the back of my head on the tree, and let out a frustrated wail. I had lost Luna because… because… why didn't I tell her?

_Because you knew that she, being a princess alicorn, might try to find a way home with her magic if she knew she had a real place in life. _A voice said. Thank you for pointing out my flaws, conscience. But when I thought about it, I realized it was true. The whole reason she was like this was thanks my own selfishness.

What have I done?

"Luna, please come home. I'm sorry, so, so sorry. I was wrong to hide you from yourself. Please come back. I love you." I heard a rustle in the branches above me, but I passed it off as a bird. Suddenly, Luna was there beside me.

My Luna. Not Nightmare Moon, my daughter, covered in tree sap, burrs, leaves, and drops of rainwater. I guess her mane could hold physical objects after all. Neither of us spoke, allowing the sound of the raindrops to take over.

"I heard what you said." She said. I nodded.

"I meant it all." She looked at me, tears in her eyes as she saw the bandage on my arm. I noticed her looking at it and covered it with my hand.

"Don't worry, you didn't do anything serious. A few burns and cuts, nothing more." I put on a weak smile, and she looked a little less sad.

"I'm sorry, too. I turned into that… that Nightmare Moon because I let my anger get the best of me. I hurt you because of my anger. Even in another world, I'm still in my alter-ego's shadow. I'm so sorry, daddy, and I won't blame you if you don't love me anymore."

It was when she called me 'daddy' when I started to cry. She hadn't called me daddy for years, not since she was a filly. I suddenly realized that even after me hiding her from herself, she still wanted me as her father.

"Why would I stop loving you? You've brought more joy to me than I could ever achieve on my own. I love you." I hugged her hard, and we sat there, unmoving, barely protected by the leaves above us from the unrelenting rain. Suddenly, Luna started to giggle.

"What?" I asked. She began laughing even harder.

"You are on the edge of a two-acre area of land. In the pouring rain. Without a shirt on. Not even a hat or jacket on you!" She couldn't contain herself any longer, and fell on the ground in a fit of laughter. I can't resist laughing when someone else is laughing, and soon we were both crying from it all.

I looked at her, and she looked at me, our eyes meeting. And we sat there, in the pouring rain, sheltered by a grove of trees, father and daughter. Then we turned and watched the stars begin to appear.

"Dad?" She asked.

"Yes?" I said, feeling like I was in a dream.

"Can we go home? I haven't had time to clean since I turned into Nightmare Moon. I'm really starting to stink." I laughed and nodded, and she rolled over, shaking the water off her wings.

"Come closer." She said. I walked until I was touching her dark-blue flank. Her horn blazed, and suddenly, as if someone had flicked a switch, we were surrounded by a shield of magic. She smiled.

"Being an evil, trained-in-magic alicorn for a few days has it's perks." We began walking, and I watched as the drops of water rolled down the side of the bubble. I laughed and hugged her hard.

Four days before, I feared my puzzle of life was losing four pieces: my parents, my brother, and Luna. Today, I celebrated in my mind, knowing I had beaten that great void that threatened to take over. I got one of my pieces back.

She's done it. I know 18 is a bit old for getting a Cutie Mark when you're a pony, but she still looked young after 1000 years on the moon, and much more time before that. Anyway, we were watching the sun, around an hour before nighttime, and she stood up.

"What're you doing?" I asked, puzzled. She looked down at me.

"I want to try something." She strode forward, looking majestic and royal. Just like a princess. She finally stopped, and spread her wings. Her horn began to glow as she lifted up into the air, and I realized what she was doing.

Nearing where it looked like she was in the center of the sky, she made her horn flare with light. A white orb - unmistakably the moon - rose up to join her. Nearing it's peak, she spread out her wings, causing a brilliant flare as the moon ended it's climb.

When she fell downwards, she looked like she had wrestled a tiger and lost, but the grin on her face was a mile wide. She looked like she was on top of the world. When I think about it, she could be if she wanted.

"Quick, let's go check the news!"

I flipped to FOX News, turning up the volume until I could hear it clearly.

"…And in the weather, time seems to have shifted tonight. In America, the moon rose up an hour earlier than it was supposed to. Across the world, day arrived before anyone was awake. What caused this phenomenon? The world may never know."

I was speechless. Jerking up, I leaped over and hugged the alicorn mare. Laughing, we embraced for what seemed like days. Then I noticed something.

"Hey Luna… what's that on your flank?" She let go and observed her rump, and there, as clear as could be, was a Cutie Mark. A crescent moon, surrounded by an inky black, just like in the show. Neither spoke for a long time. Then Luna started zipping around with her wings.

"My Cutie Mark! I had no idea if that would work, but it did! Oh my gosh, I can't believe I got it finally!" She talked in a flurry of speech, but I just laughed for joy. She eventually settled down, and flopped on the couch in exhaustion.

"Now Luna, try not to do that again. It might cause a commotion that won't die down easily." She nodded, but her smile remained. It leaked to me, and I hugged her lovingly.

"I'm proud of you." I said sincerely.

"Thanks, dad."

Luna turned 19 today, and since she couldn't drive like so many 19 year olds did to celebrate their first year of college, though Luna wasn't going to college, I said she could fly anywhere she wanted. She thought for a while, and her eyes lit up with an idea.

"Can we go back to our old neighborhood in Seattle?" I nodded, but had a secret fear in my heart that she wouldn't find anything good there. Nevertheless, I got in my car - my raise had taken care of my transportation - and we left our little estate off the ocean.

The drive for me took over an hour, but we finally reached the border of Seattle. She didn't know the way, so I took the lead, but as things got more and more familiar, she flew lower and lower until she could talk to me.

"Oh my gosh, it's just around this corner!" She flew faster, whipping around the bend. Then I heard a cry.

I sped up, catching up to the dark-blue alicorn. She was on the ground, staring at where the apartment complex had once stood. In it's place was an abandoned construction site. They had evicted us from a building that they had torn down, only to abandon the new project.

"H-how could they do this?" She said in disbelief. I put a hand on her shoulder. She began walking around. Everything was gone. The lot we practiced magic and flying in, the entire apartment complex, even an old alleyway she had climbed into once when she was little. I fondly remembered that last memory. It had taken hours to get her to come out.

A few tears fell from my eyes at her disappointment, but I wiped them away. She needed to see that life had problems like this. My operator was trying to restart a machine, but this time was different. This time, life was trying to crush Luna.

It was getting a surprise instead.

"Come on, Luna. I'll drive you home." I said, beckoning for her to follow me. She nodded with a blank look on her face before climbing into the passenger seat. I climbed in the other end, and we drove away in silence.

While we were driving through our acres before the house, I spoke softly.

"I knew that something like this would happen eventually." She looked up.

"You did?" I nodded sadly.

"Yep. That neighborhood was old, and the ground wasn't very sturdy. The older buildings stayed up due to their better and deeper original foundations, but a new building wouldn't have those, so it wouldn't be safe." She looked slightly relieved.

"So you knew they would fail at trying to replacing your apartments with something newer?" I nodded, and she smiled a little.

"Sweet payback." She said quietly, with a grin on her face. I smiled as well, and we pulled up to our house. Getting out, she looked around.

"You know what, dad? I think this is nicer than those apartments." I laughed, and we walked inside together. It was then that I thought I had beaten the operator known as life once and for all. I was wrong.

It was just scouting for a counter-attack.

A lot of kids think the biggest fear a parent has is a fear of their children getting hurt. As I found out today, it's not. Their biggest fear is of letting their children go. And when that fear becomes a reality, it feels worse than being hit with magic a thousand times over.

I was playing the Xbox with Luna, who manipulated the controller with her magic, on a bright sunny morning. It was our monthly "Daddy-Daughter Play An FPS Game" day, and Luna was whooping my butt.

"BOOM! HEADSHOT!" She cried out in ecstasy as she hit me with another shot to the head, bringing her another 100 points ahead. I hate losing, especially at Halo: Reach.

"No fair, you have magic that enhances your skill!" I said in objection.

"No magic, that was the rule." She countered.

"Which is why that didn't count!" We didn't mean any of it, but it was fun getting in a joke argument. Like I said, it was a fun, sunny morning. The Xbox spinning the disc, cold sodas at hand, and music with increased bass blaring through our stereo system. Thanks to the music, I barely noticed the knock at the door. But I noticed it.

You see, our property was private, with a "Trespassers Will Be Shot" sign out front. Nobody had dared to come up here, so Luna and I had never considered what to do if someone did come up. I should have thought to make her fly somewhere, but I'm not the Einstein of today.

"Luna, run upstairs quick. There's someone at the door. I'll deal with them, you can act normal in five minutes tops." Luna nodded and teleported upstairs in a burst of magic. Turning down the speakers and turning off the TV, I walked up the stairs and to the front door. I had a bad feeling about this… but since when have people listened to their gut? I threw open the door.

I was actually blown back by the sight in front of me.

Spread out wings, a waving rainbow mane, amber eyes, an amulet around her neck. In front of me, and a good two feet above me as well, was Princess Celestia. I felt a wave of excitement at meeting the goddess of Equestria, and a sense of sadness and… _fear_? Yes, fear, for I knew what this meant.

"Come in." I said stupidly, stepping aside to let her pass. She smiled and thanked me, though I could tell she wasn't very happy, and stepped inside. As much as I was surprised at seeing a goddess horse walk into my living room, I was even more surprised, though I shouldn't have been, by seeing the rest of the Mane 6 walk in: Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity, each one wearing their Element of Harmony.

"Where are his hooves? Why is he on two legs? How can we breath air on another planet? Is this an alien house? It looks so much like a house we might have! Ooh! I remember this one house near Sugarcube Corner that looked JUST like this, it was for sale for 450 bits! Can he- OH MY GOSH YOU HAVE A KITCHEN!" Pinkie said in a flurry of speech that I should have expected. She began to walk to my kitchen when Rainbow Dash bit her tail.

"Hold on there, Pinkie. We need to get the princess first, and we don't have time for baking… _unfortunately_." Her stomach growled cartoonishly loudly, which I should have expected as well. I don't know why, but I seemed so… un-hesitant around these ponies.

"Um… Pinkie, you can make something, if your friends are okay with it. Just try to clean up afterwards." She squealed and streaked into the decent sized room, immediately getting things out for some sort of treat. She didn't even find it weird that I knew her name. Then again, she probably knew mine as well. Dash sighed and followed her.

"I'll keep her from totaling your kitchen, sir." She said as she walked in to join her hyperactive friend.

"Now, we are pretty sure Princess Luna is here." Twilight said all business-like. "Where can we find her?"

"Why should I tell you? You want to take her away from me? Want to make my life miserable again?" I said in a hostile tone that I couldn't find the origins of. Fluttershy whimpered and cowered.

"Um, actually, I don't want to make your life miserable. It's just that Princess Celestia has been _really _tired lately for raising the sun and the moon together, and we need our other princess back, so _please _don't be mad at us!" She said it all in her same quiet tone from the show. The rumors were true, it did calm anyone down.

"Alright, alright Fluttershy, sorry. Luna's up in her room."

"Luna?" Applejack sounded like she thought I had said I was Luna herself.

"Yes, Luna. Is there a problem?"

"YES!" Twilight shouted. "This is a _princess_, you outsider, and you refer to a _princess _as Princess!" Spas.

"Sheesh, Twilight, I'm not that dumb."

"Pardon my askin', but how the hay d'you know our names?" Applejack asked, finally noticing that I knew everyone… or _everypony _as was proper here.

"I know all of you. I know you're a children's TV show, but why on earth would you be here?" I lied. Unfortunately, I was a terrible liar. Celestia's eyes saw right thorough me.

"Oh, I think you know exactly why we're here."

So here's the play: Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash are in the kitchen, which is good because Dash could whoop my butt like Luna would in Halo. In front of me are Fluttershy, who couldn't hurt a fly, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, and the goddess horse, Princess Celestia. If I could make it upstairs, I would tell Luna to fly to the apartment complex, and say that Luna was still mad at me and had run away.

I was just about to make a dash for it when-

"Dad?" Luna called from upstairs.

"I'll be there in a minute." I called back up. Everyone recognized the voice of their moon princess, but what surprised them was why she was calling me 'dad.' And how I had called her Luna instead of "Princess Luna," much to Twilight's annoyance.

Dash flew in with Pinkie behind her.

"Are my ears going out, or did I just hear the princess call Luna 'dad?'"

"She did! I heard it, Princess Luna did call her dad! What game should we play next?" Pinkie started again, but Dash shoved a cupcake - hopefully from the continuing baking - into her mouth.

"Well?" Celestia said in her regal tone. "Explain this to us."

Hot tears of anger stung my eyes.

"You want an explanation?" I yelled, causing Fluttershy to cower once more, and even Pinkie backed up a bit. "I'll give you an explanation after you explain something to me. Why do you send a three year old filly alicorn to my closet, then come back and say that you don't understand why she calls me dad?!" I boiled over, waiting for an answer, daring the silence to break. Then Celestia spoke.

"A filly? My sister is a filly once more? Bring her down!" I stuttered to try to explain Luna was actually 25 years old, today to be exact, but I figured they should just see her. Walking upstairs with a heavy heart, I found Luna in the bathroom.

"Dad, the shower isn't working. I think the hot water is gone." I pulled her hooves off of the showerhead, making her eyes look at mine.

"Luna, the shower is going to have to wait. I have something to tell you."

When I told her that there were 7 ponies downstairs, one being her sister, she laughed it off and fumbled once more with the shower. I dragged her downstairs to prove it. Everyone was sitting in the living room, but they all jumped up when they saw Luna.

"PRINCESS!" Pinkie shouted as she threw herself into a hug with my adopted daughter. She was quickly pushed away by the latter. Her hair to deflate with a sound of a balloon losing all it's air.

"You… you don't remember me? But I thought we were friends."

"Well… I know who you are, but I… I don't _know _who you are. Dad, what's going on?" She looked at me with a confused and frightened look in her light blue eyes.

"There it is again. 'Dad.' Why is she so set on calling you her father?" Twilight said indignantly.

"Yes, and why is she not a filly like you told me she was?" Celestia said with a tone of anger at being fooled with. I told Luna to have a seat, and I began the tale with a sad face and a heavy heart.

I told them about her being in my laundry, her first flight, her first spell, buying this house, her finding she came from a cartoon, and her getting her Cutie Mark. They all listened intently, even Celestia, who had lost some hostility as she realized her folly.

"And that's why I was so angry. Sorry again, Fluttershy."

"Oh, that's quite alright." She said softly with a fake smile on her face. Poor Fluttershy, she probably thought that because I was an alien, I would eat her. Princess Celestia had a face of sorrow and pain.

"You don't even remember me, sister?" Luna shook her head, and her sun-controlling sister looked down.

"It has been far too long. We must get her back to Equestria before she becomes so solid in this world that she can't leave. Twilight. The memory spell from Discord's initial attack." Twilight stood up at her name and command, but I got in between her and my Luna.

"Sir, I don't want to hurt you."

"I've been with Luna and her magic practices for eighteen years. I'd like to see you try." I said stubbornly. Then I relaxed a little. "I just want a moment with her."

Walking over to my adopted daughter, I grabbed her hoof in my hands.

"I don't want to go."

"You have to." I said. "That's your real home. In Equestria, you can fly anywhere, make other pony friends. Here, your trapped to the estate's borders. That's not living. You have to go home."

"But home is with you." She said simply, and she began to cry. That didn't help my case at all.

"Luna. When you came tumbling down with my laundry, I thought I was hallucinating. I'm glad I wasn't. Ever since my brother Stephen died, you've helped me overcome every obstacle life could throw at me. You brought color into my life, and I thank you for it. But all good things must come to an end, including this. I was taking care of you until this righted itself, and it happened long after I thought it would.

"If you're getting angry right now, don't you dare try to become Nightmare again. That might make you strong enough to stay here, but it isn't any better, so don't. Just go where you belong, for me." I pulled her into a loving hug.

She had tears in her eyes, but I was crying to. She sniffled until she could speak clearly.

"Dad, when I was a filly, you took care of me." Then a spark shone in her eye as she suddenly turned on the group of Equestrian ponies.

"Why did this happen, anyway?" She yelled at all of them, her voice taking on a slightly demonic tone as her eyes flashed brightly. Everyone, including Celestia, recognized that gleam - and feared it.

"Why did any of this happen? You send me to my dad as a filly, and you come back 23 years later just to take me away from him? What other sick jokes do you play with people?" Celestia stood up with a confused face.

"Sister, twenty-three years?" Luna nodded, losing her anger - partially. Celestia's face grew grave and solemn as this information sunk in.

"I should explain. 66 _days _ago, we were facing a minor attack from several outsiders. One unicorn caught his magic with mine, and you stepped in to aid me. The beam shifted, and you were hit in the chest. You were sent - well, _here _apparently, and we've been trying to get you back since."

Wait, wait, wait. This information explained a lot. If Luna left their world 66 days ago, and Luna appeared in my closet 23 years ago, then every two days for them was a full year for us. No wonder they expected Luna to remember them.

"See Luna? You _need _to go back, you and Celestia have threats to deal with back in your real home. Please, just go. Your making it harder than it should be." I said, tears dripping down my face. I wondered what would happen after Luna left.

Maybe I'd live like before, with nobody to love and no friends to talk to. Or maybe Luna's stay would crack me after she left, causing me to be taken to an asylum. Or maybe I'd just die, though I doubt that would happen.

She hugged me hard, squeezing me to her heart.

"As I was saying, you took me in when I was a filly. I had no home, no family, and no idea what was going on. Most people would have taken me somewhere to get money or something, but you raised me instead.

"You taught me how to fly, how to use magic, how to play Halo, and so much more than I can list. You raised me as a daughter, and I thank you so much for everything you've done for me. I love you, daddy."

Luna and I sat there in each others arms. I could see the Equestrian ponies with the corner of my eye. Everyone was crying to some extent, including Rainbow Dash. Finally, we were broken apart.

"Sir, I was sure that this world of corruption and deceit would ail my sister, maybe even make her Nightmare Moon permanently. What I found was a perfectly happy Luna who had been raised by a good person.

"You raised her as a daughter, even though you are different races. That is why this is so hard

"The time has come for us to depart. Twilight?" The lavender unicorn wiped tears from her eyes when Princess Celestia said her name and walked towards Luna. Luna stood up bravely as she approached.

"Are you ready?" The student asked.

"I am." My only daughter I had ever had looked over at me. "I love you so much." I nodded and kissed her on the forehead. Then she looked back at the unicorn.

"Take me home." The unicorn nodded, and moved to touch her glowing horn to Luna's forehead.

Time slowed as I watched that one part of the unicorn move slowly towards my daughter's face. I saw my life since Luna came into it flash before my eyes. Her arrival, her birthday, her first flight, her first spell, everything.

As Twilight's horn was a centimeter away from Luna, I saw tears fall to the floor from the alicorn's eyes.

"Stop!" Celestia commanded, and Twilight halted. The white sun goddess looked at her powerful student, Element of Magic.

"Take us all to Equestria, him included." Twilight looked surprised, but nodded, signaling for her friends and their Elements to assist her. A light surrounded us, and I felt volts of electricity run through my veins as I was teleported to another dimension.

Silence. I opened my eyes and saw we were in Equestria, the sunny land of Earth-Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns alike. The air was warm in the summer evening. Celestia looked back at me.

"Good sir, would you actually give up all of your life on your planet willingly, just to stay with Luna?" I nodded with determination. Stephen and my parents were gone, and I had no friends. I had no cause of life back on Earth.

"Then I shall allow you to live here. On the condition that you are changed to one of us." I nodded, and she moved in to touch my forehead. Closing my eyes, I felt myself wrapped in an unspeakably sweet warmth. It seeped into my soul, changing me inside and out. I felt _alive._

When I hit the ground, I looked at my feet - or where my feet used to be.

"I've got legs! Hooves! A head too! I'm a girl - no, wait," I said feeling my Adam's Apple. "A boy! Hair, I have a mane!" I trotted over to a pond and looked into it, my reflection staring back at me.

"I'm a pegasus!" I cried out, struggling to lift off from the ground. I fell back the ground, but was happy all the same. Luna stepped forward.

"I remember my life here, but I also remember my life with you. That makes me want to ask you: Will you stay at Canterlot with my sister and I?" I couldn't believe it. I had wings, I was a horse, _and _I get to stay with Luna and Celestia? SWEETNESS!

I gladly accept." I said much more calmly than my brain intended. Laughing, my daughter and I stood up and bid the others goodbye. Suddenly realizing something, I caught up with Celestia.

"Princess, will I live _in _the castle, or will I have to find a home in the city?" She laughed and said that there were multiple rooms in the castle that I could choose from, but I could live in the city if I wished.

And that's my story so far. 23 years ago, I found a filly alicorn in my laundry which came tumbling down from my closet. Now I am living with that alicorn in a castle in a magical world of talking ponies.

Coincidence? Maybe. All I know is that life was not my operator any longer. Now is the time for me to take control, and begin the next chapter of my life, where I live in a land full of peace and happiness.

And I owe it all to Luna.

**Good? Bad? Alright, so it wasn't as good as My Little Dashie (Nothing is), but was it okay? Review! I might write a sequel, a collection of short stories about Luna teaching me how to use my pony-ness right. Next is my last taking-care-of-someone story, about every fan's favorite pegasus, Ditzy Derpy Doo Hooves! (Although I might write one about Vinyl, but that's still up in the air.) Till then, bye!**


End file.
